Station-trough



A. HUPP.

STATION THOUGH.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10,1915. RENEWED AUG. 7,1920.

1,37 1,486. Patented Mar. 15,1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

A. HUPP.

STATION THOUGH.

APPLICATIUN man JULY 10,1915. RENEWED AUG. 7.1920.

Patented Mar. 15, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT HUPP, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO AUTOMATIC RAILWAY MAIL EXCHANGE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

STATION-TROUGH.

Patented Mar. 15, 19121.

. Application filed July 10, 1915, Serial No. 39,111. Renewed August 7, 1920. Serial No. 402,033.

T 0 all whom it may concern..- l Be it known that I, ALBERT HUPP, a citizen of the United States, and residentpf -Washington, District of Columbia, have mvented certain new and useful Improvements in Station-Troughs, of which the following is a specification.

pable of arresting the motion of the packages or sacks of mail without injury of the contents.

- tion to be taken by the train apparatus, the

trough with the cranes thereon being vertically adjustable to accommodate variations in the level of the track.

Other objects and the features of novelty -will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a trough embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the railway car and the mail handling apparatus thereon being also shown in its relation to the trough. r Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

. Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of an end of the trough.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of a trough embodying a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of'the construction shown in Fig. 5.

Re'ferrin'g'to Figs. 1 to 4, 10 indicates a tra'ck, 11 the body of a car on the track, 12 the mail receiving arm or chute and 13 the delivering chute on the car. Arranged at a distance of several feet from the track are two rows of supporting members 14 and 15, these members being spaced apart longitudinally oi the track and the members 14 carrying posts 16 which support the front of the trough for receiving the mail bags from the delivering chute 13. The supporting members 15 support the posts 17; and beams 18, downwardly inclined away from the car, are connected to each pair of the posts 16 and 17. The beams 18 extend to the rear of the posts 17 and are connected with the upper ends of the latter by braces 19.

Secured to the beams 18 and extending longitudinally of the trough are the bottom boards 20, these boards being slightly spaced apart along their longitudinal edges to permit rain to drain from the trough. A series of longitudinally extending boards 21v are secured to the posts 17 and form the vertical back of the trough. From Fig. 2

it will be apparent that the bottom of the trough forms, with the back, an acute angle and when the mail bags are discharged from the chute 13 onto the bottom of the trough they will slide down into this acute angle and then move longitudinally of the trough,

the friction between the bags and the boards 20 and 21 retarding the motion of the bags. Arranged along the upper edge of the bottom of the trough is a suitable rail 22 which serves to prevent the bags from falling from the front side of the trough. The

posts 17 have secured to the upper ends thereof the cross pieces 23 which carry the boards 24, the latter forming a platform on which the mail cranes 25 are supported. The cranes 25 are for the purpose of holding the sacks which are to be taken by the receiving chute 12 of the car.

In'order to avoid undue shocks to the contents of the mail bags when they are discharged from the chute 13 onto the bot tom of the trough, it is desirable to mainthe chute varies with the elevation of the rails, it is evident that, in order to provide for changes in the elevation of the rails, means must be provided for raising or lowering the trough as a whole. The, relation of the chutes 12 and 13 on the car is fixed, as to elevations, and, therefore, in adjusting the trough to the elevation of the bottom of the chute 13, the cranes 25 will be simultaneously adjusted with reference to the chute 12 so that the adjustment of the trough will maintain the cranes in proper elevation. 1

Connection between the posts 14 and 16 y is made by members 26 extending along the front of thetrough and secured to theposts by bolts or lag screws or any other suitable devices. The posts 15 and 17 are connected in any adjusted position by means of tie blocks 27 which may also be secured inthe same manner as the members 26.

If the. arms of the crane are not at the correct elevationto cooperate with the chute on the car, the entire trough with the crane may be raised by withdrawing the lower bolts, lag screws or other fastening means thatis used from the members 26 and tie blocks 27. J Thus the members 26 will be fastened to the posts 16 but free from the supports 14. Similarly the tie blocks 27 will remain attached to the posts 17 but free from the supports 15. The trough may then be raised and the members 26 and tie plates fastened to the supports to hold the trough and crane in the desired adjusted position.

In orderv to avoid having the troughs of excessive length, in providing for the necessary space in which to stop the motion of the mail bags, it is desirable to have the bottom of the trough turned up at the end as indicated at 28. g V 7 Referring toFig. 4 it will be seen'that the curved portion 28 of the bottom is arranged on an arc of a true circle and that the force of gravity will be brought into action to assist the frictional resistance of the bags on the bottom of the trough, to stop the bags. In practice the bags slide up the curved endportion and then slide back to a posi tion of rest from which they may be removed.

and are secured to the On account of the bottom of the trough being turned up atthe end it is also necessary to incline the front and back walls of the I trough to prevent the the ground. g

In Fig. 4 it will be seen that the boards 29 are inclined upwardly from the point 30 posts 31. The boards 32 constituting the back wall of the trough are also inclined upwardly and secured to posts 31 and the cross boards forming the curved portion 28 of the bottom are secured to the boards 29 and 32 in any suitable manbags from falling to ner and suoported thereby. The inclining of the Iront wall of the chute upward necessitates that this wall also be deflected.

away from the train, otherwise it would be strualr by the chute 13. This deflection of the front wall 29 away from the train is clearly indicated in Fig. 3;

In Figs. v5 and 6 th re-is illustrated another form of end for the. trough in which the mail bags have their direction of moproper clearance is-provided for the chute 1 3. At the extr me end oi the trough a semicylindrical plate 38 constitutes a continuation of the wall 36 and provides 'a smooth surface for reversing the motion of the mail bags and delivering themto the open space '39 substantially-in the rearofthe point 37 The boards 10' extend from the plate 38 to the opening 39 as shown in Fig. 6. In order to reinforce the plate '38 angle irons ll and eQ- are secured along-the top and bottom edges respectively and the bottom boards 35 are secured to the underside of the angle iron 12.

In this construction of the trough end the bags are brought to rest in front of the opening 39 and may be conveniently removed from the rear of the trough so that it is unnecessary for the attendant to approach the trough fromthe track side thereof in order to get the mail bags. The posts 33 are formed in two sections as indicated at 43 and these sections are secured together by suitable plates 4 1 which permit the trough I to be adjusted throughout its'length- Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. En trough for receiving mail from rapidly moving trains, comprising a bottom inclined downwardly away from'thetrain and having a curved end portion to carry the mailaway'from the track, a substantially vertical back, and the front being par- :allel with the track throughout the greater portion of its lengthand-arranged atan angle to the track and gradually increasing in height at the end o-fthe trough.

. 2. A. trough for' receivingmail, from rapidly meving trains, comprisingta bottom inclined downwardly away from the train and having its-end portion turned upwardly, a substantially vert al'back and the fron being parallel with the track throughout the and the front being parallel with the track greater portion of its length and arranged at throughout the greater portion of its length 10 an angle to the track and gradually increasand arranged at an angle to the track and ing in height at the end of the trough. V gradually increasing in height at the end of 3. A trough for receiving mail, from the trough. w rapidly moving trains, comprising a bottom In testimony whereof I afiix my signature. having its end portion curved upward on the arc of a circle, a substantially vertical back, ALBERT HUPP. 

